The Bullet of Growth: The Right Sized Burdens (Part 1)
“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” These words were part of a sermon William Carey preached before he gave himself to missionary service in India in 1793. Carey is recognized as the key igniter of the modern mission movement and is without question one of “the greats” of the Christian church.
Although he was untrained as a linguist and had no formal education, he taught himself Greek, Hebrew, Bengali, Sanskrit and eight other India dialects! He labored seven long years before he won his first person to Christ. He fought tremendous battles including minimal finances, opposition by the English government, persecution by the native populace, the fatalism of the cast system, the emotional horror of sati (the burning of a man’s widow on his funeral pyre), personal illness that brought him close to death, the mental breakdown and insanity of his wife and the illness and death of his youngest son … to name a few!!
Yet, Carey built one of the greatest works for Christ of any who ever sought to obey our Lord’s Great Commission. “God fits our burdens to our backs” were the words that sustained him!
What a great thought! Those of us who are parents would never deliberately “overload” our children! I would never have insisted, when unloading the car after a vacation, that my young son or daughter carry three suitcases, a hanging bag and four shoe boxes at the same time! Parents fit children’s burdens to their ability.
So it is with the Heavenly Father. He gives us enough burdens to stretch us and grow us but He never overloads us! God has promised that He allows only the burdens we can handle (I Corinthians 10:13)! Wonderful!
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